See the video below for a lesson on "Heian"
Heian
Does Heian mean Peaceful Mind? What do you think?
The kanji for Heian has two parts to it; ‘Hei’ which means flat, level, calm, ordinary, and peaceful. And ‘An’ means safe, stable, easy, peaceful, or inexpensive.
Note: In addition to karate katas, Heian also refers to a period of time in Japan! It was 794 AD to 1185 AD.
When we talk about karate katas, there are five (5) Heian katas!
Fun Fact: The Heian katas were originally called “Pinan” katas (Okinawan pronunciation for the exact same characters). The founder of Japanese Shotokan renamed them as Heian to be more acceptable in Japan!
The word Shodan refers to a first-degree black belt. Shodan also means ‘first step.’ Shodan also is used for the first kata in the Heian series. It is the first step in Heian katas. it is Heian kata number one!
Note: The ‘numbering’ of the Heian katas begins first with #1 which is Shodan, and then the other katas are then referred to as second step, third step, fourth step, and the fifth step!
1. Heian Shodan
If you study the Japanese kanji for ‘Shodan‘ you will discover that the left side symbol means clothing. On the right side is the symbol for sword or knife. To relate this to the kata, think that when you are producing clothes, you have to cut the material to create it! The symbol means ‘begin.’
In the Heian kata kanji, the far side (when written horizontally) is the symbol for “dan” which means action or movement. The left side means ability, skill, grade, or rank. Together the symbols for ‘sho’ and ‘dan’ together represent the first senior rank a student achieves in martial arts (the black belt). For the Heian it again means first step.
Thus, it will read as Hei-an-shodan (first step)
2. Heian Nidan
Second kata in the series. The number ‘two’ is now used. Thus, it will read as Hei-an-ni (number two) -dan.
3. Heian Sandan
Third kata in the series. The number ‘three’ is now used. Thus, it will read as Hei-an-san (number three) -dan.
4. Heian Yodan
Fourth kata in the series. The number ‘four’ is now used. Thus, it will read as Hei-an-yo (number four / yo/yon) -dan.
5. Heian Godan
Fifth kata in the series. The number ‘five’ is now used. Thus, it will read as Hei-an-go (number five) -dan.